That's What They Say
Sunday at 9:35 AM
Funner, snuck, and LOL are all things that we're hearing people say these days.
That's What They Say is a weekly segment on Michigan Radio that explores our changing language.University of Michigan English Professor Anne Curzan studies linguistics and the history of the English language. Each week she'll discuss why we say what we say with Michigan Radio Weekend Edition host Rebecca Kruth.
That's What They Say airs Sundays at 9:35 a.m. on Michigan Radio and you can podcast it here.
Do you have an English or grammar question? Ask us here!
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At some point you probably learned that words like "wife" and "life" are spelled with a "v" instead of "f" in plural form. Easy enough, until you found out plenty of other words, like "roof" and "sheriff," don't follow this rule. -
Frequent listeners of That's What We Say know how we much we love to talk about the constant phenomenon of words changing in meaning and use. This week we tackle three examples, including a question about the past participle of "chide."
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The only thing wrong with “ain’t” is that someone decided there’s something wrong with it.
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As we celebrate the nation's birthday this week, That's What They Say is celebrating ten years of episodes.
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Many standard dictionaries still list the traditional pronunciation of “schism” first. However, if you used it, a lot of people probably wouldn’t know what you were talking about.
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English Professor Anne Curzan used to cross out "that" and write "who" when her students wrote things like "the person that" in their papers. Then a graduate student asked her why.
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Many contemporary dictionaries will only give the paper meaning of “loose leaf." What happened to the tea?
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It seems like a good time to revisit the question of when it works well to use "whom."
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When something or someone exploits other things or people, we can say they’re “exploitive," “exploitative” or “exploitative.” Yeah, two of these look identical, but trust us, they sound different.
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When you’re waiting nervously in anticipation of something, you’re on a kind of hook that may feel tender, but it’s not. The metaphorical hooks on which you find yourself are actually "tenterhooks."
